The Wisdom Project at Moment: Inspirational conversations with wise people who have been fortunate to live long lives
Annette Morris Lerner first landed a prop plane at age 12. She is a gifted artist, an author, a devoted mother, grandmother and a great-grandmother many times over. She also famously loaned her husband, Ted Lerner, a few hundred dollars (her trousseau money) to start his real estate business. Annette worked at the State Department as a secretary, where she once took dictation for Eleanor Roosevelt.
Annette grew up in Silver Spring, Maryland, and was deeply influenced by her adventurous father, Nathan “Bill” Morris, who was both an engineer and an avid pilot. She’s written and collaborated on two books about him, Nothing Is Impossible: The Adventures and Inventions of Nathan “Bill” Morris and Blue Skies: The Further Adventures of Nathan “Bill” Morris. In them, she thanks her father for “staying forever young at heart, for being feisty, stubborn, fiercely independent and delightfully upbeat and unbeatable,” and for the joy he brought to her life.
Annette’s admiration and respect for her father has clearly influenced the zest with which she embraces each phase of her life. She married and raised three children and followed her passions to collect and create art. After years of being a painter, she fell in love with sculpture. When she no longer could work in stone, she discovered printmaking and glass. Recent shows include the 2022 Glorious Glass: Works by Annette Lerner at the American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center in Washington, DC., showcasing her whimsical and expressive multi-layered glass sculptures. “Each original work reflects her inherent vision and her gift of being totally “in the present” with her materials and emotions,” the curator wrote. In 2019, American University Museum also presented Our World Above: Monoprints and Glass, exhibiting her art inspired by the desert sky in California and images taken through the Hubble Space Telescope.
And yes, Annette and her family also own the Nationals, Washington, DC’s Major League Baseball team. Ted—who passed away in 2023 at age 97—was a huge baseball fan. He grew up attending Washington Senators’ games and even ushered at the team’s home, Griffith Stadium. Annette became a fan, and through the team she and Ted had the opportunity to develop meaningful relationships with important political and public figures, including presidents and former presidents. She continues to enjoy going to Nats games, preferably in the afternoon these days, and is a fan of the new shortened game time.
Ted and Annette Lerner in 1950. Photo courtesy of Annette Lerner.
Annette met Ted at a dance in 1948. They married in 1951 and were together until he died. She splits her time between her homes in the Washington, DC, suburbs and the California desert, and at 94, continues to create art. She also spends as much time as possible with her family, reads widely and devotes energy to the causes she and Ted cared about through the Annette M. Lerner and Theodore N. Lerner Family Foundation.
What is the key to a successful 70-year marriage?
You do your thing. He does his. And when one of you makes a mistake, you let it go. I married the love of my life.
What important lessons did you learn from your parents about marriage?
My mother never held my father back. He was an adventurer. He flew across the Atlantic Ocean four times. He flew to the Arctic Circle. He was still flying a plane at 95. One time I was in California where we spent the winter, and he just showed up at the airport. He had flown there. I would like to have taken his car keys, but he could fly a plane! He got to fly one of his great grandchildren.
What did you learn from your husband, Ted?
I wasn’t raised religious, but he was raised in an Orthodox home. When we got married, Ted wanted to keep a kosher home, which I learned how to do and will do now till the day I die.
Is the story true about you loaning Ted $250 dollars to start his business?
When Ted realized he didn’t want to practice law and instead wanted to sell real estate, I gave him my trousseau money. He sold houses to veterans who came back from the war. Ted always liked to say, “I’ve been paying back that money my whole life!”
How do you keep growing and creating as an artist? I understand you recently had a show of your glass designs in Washington, DC.
I was a painter and took up sculpting in California in my mid-fifties. I love all forms of sculpture. I loved working in stone and was whacking at that stone so hard I thought I was Michelangelo until I dislocated my shoulder and had to rest my arm. Then I took up printmaking, which I still do.
Now I’m in my glass period and Lord knows what will be the next one. I miss watercolors and oils, and may go back to them. Since I can no longer chisel to sculpt and was looking for something else, I took a glass-blowing class nearby. I made a lot of glass plates and bowls, but they were not very interesting to me. So, I started experimenting and making them more like sculptures. In the past few months I’ve been working at an art studio in Kensington, MD, making glass pieces that are even larger.
You have a beautiful art collection with pieces from many famous artists. How did you learn about collecting?
When I first decided to start collecting art, I went to all the big museums in New York City to learn about the Impressionists, whom I loved. In California, we wanted to have modern art in our home. I knew nothing about modern art, so I went to all the museums and galleries in LA and learned about it.
As a mother of 3, grandmother of 9 and a great-grandmother of 11, what do you wish and hope for for your family?
Joy.
Any advice for young people growing up today, especially those concerned with the state of the world?
Make every move in your life something that will make you happy and your family happy. Always strive to be better. Life is very complicated. I find it best to keep a smile on my face and keep moving. Now that I am in the twilight of my life, I want to enjoy every day and wrap myself in beauty. I’ve found out at this late stage that life is very short.
Opening photo by Nadine Epstein